Wagon



Dec. 10, 1935. w. E. RODLER 2,023,700

I WAGON I Filed Sept. 2l, 19554 4Patented Dec. 10, 1.935

UNITED STATES PATENT CFFICE 'WAGON Application September 21, 1933,Serial No. 690,389

2 Claims.

My invention relates to earth moving devices and more particularly toapparatus of the dump wagon or dump trailer type whereby bulk materialsuch as dirt and the like may be hauled and which are adapted to bedrawn by heavyl duty tractors.

Wagons of this type are usually heavy and of large capacity so that itbecomes necessary to employ a running gear of the endless tread type. Awagon employing such endless tread includes at least a pair of spacedwheels about which.is arranged an endless tread linkage. The wheels areusually of a relatively small diameter, nevertheless a relatively largesupporting surface is provided by the lower portions of the treadlinkage. The body of a Wagon, when supported by such an endless treadrunning gear is, by reason of the small diameter of the wheels, in aposition relatively close to the earth thereby facilitating easy loadingof the vehicle. The use of such an undercarriage for supportingthewagon-in a position relatively closey to the earth makes a bottom dumpdoor undesirable for the reason that doors in the bottom of such wagonscannot be conveniently operated to eiiiciently discharge the materialwith which the wagon is loaded.

In road grading and the like', it becomes necessary to construct atleast a temporary roadway over which a dump wagon may be pulled. Theload carried by the bottom dump door wagon is then discharged in thevery roadway so constructed, so that further movement of the dischargedmaterial therefrom is necessary to preserve the roadway. It is a purposeof my invention to avoid such additional movement of the dischargematerial. Furthermore there are also grading projects such as widening afilled portion, or dumping earth along the edge of an embankment,whereby the use of dump wagons of the drop-door type would beundesirable and impractical. Wagons constructed in accordance with myinvention are known as the side-dump type.

Dump Wagons have been constructed in the past which discharge materialwith which they are loaded at points other than the bottom thereof, andsuch wagons are known as the sidedump type. Such wagons of the past havebeen cumbersome and undesirable for the reason that the dumpingoperation required involved mechanism and entailed large manufacturingcosts. I am concerned here with the problem of simplifying the mechanismfor tilting the body of such wagon and particularly the means wherebydirection of dumping of the material is established.

It is therefore an object of my invention to pro- Y vide a wagon withsimple means for discharging the material carried thereby to one side ofthe wagon.

Another object of my invention is toV provide means for discharging thematerial with which the wagon is loaded to either side of the wagon.

A further object of my invention is to provide means whereby the loadmay be selectively dumped at either side of the wagon.

A more specic object of my invention is to provide a single actuatingmeans for tilting the wagon body which means may becontrolled by othermeans to selectively tilt the wagon body in either direction. l y. 15

A still further object of my invention is to provide means for pivotallylocking'either side of the wagon body to the supporting frame thereofwhereby the side of the wagon body which is not locked to the frame maybe raised to discharge 20 the contents carried therein.

Other and further features and objects of the invention will be moreapparent; to those skilled in the art upon a consideration of theaccompanying drawing and the followingy description wherein a singleexemplary embodiment of the invention is disclosed.

. In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a general view in perspective of a dump wagon constructed inaccordance with my invention.

Figure 2 is a view, partly in section and partly in elevation, showingthe selective locking arrangement whereby the direction of dumping 1sestablished. The View is taken from the rear of the wagon, and

Figure 3 is a detailed View partly in section and partly in elevation,showing a modiedform of the locking hook arrangement.

Referring to the drawing, there is shown at l0, generally, an elongatedframe of substantially rectangular shape. The frame l0 is constructed ofchannel iron with the side members and the end portions thereof rigidlysecured to each other by means of rivets H. It will be apparent thatthese parts may be secured to each other by means of bolts, or bywelding the side and end members together. The front portions of thelside members of the frame I0 converge slightly towards each other asshown at I2, whereby the front end of the frame is of a smaller widththan the rear end thereof.

The frame is supported by running gear of the endless tread type. Therunning gear comprises a pair of spaced wheels I3 of relatively smalldi- 55 aineter, about which isa'rranged an endless tread l f linkage I4:Suchan endless tread is provided at each side of the frame' I0. Therunning gear is secured to the frame in any well-known manner and theframe is thus supported so that it may be moved on the endless treadmechanism. A curved draw-bar |5 is attached to the `front end of theframe and the-draw bar is rigidly se- `cured to the frame by meansofbolts I6, 'which' c`oduty tractor (not shown) which may be attached v tothe front end of the draw bar.

A beam |8 extends transversely across the frame near the front endthereof and adjacent the rear end ofthe draw bar I5. Thefbeam I3 is ofsubstantially square cross-section and is long enough -to vextend ashortdistance beyond the side mem' l bers vof the frame I0. Thisbeam I8 isadapted tially of U-shape.

to rest' on the uppermost 'edges of the side members of the frame, asindicated at I9, andA is secured thereto by any suitable means. Asimilar beam |8a extends across the frame I0 near the rear end thereof`and this beam |8a is associated with the frame in a manner similartothe beam I8.

In the preferred form vof my invention here l described two of suchbeams are provided but it is apparent that additional beams may beutilized if desired. For instance, Y several other beams may be'positioned across the frame intermediate of'thebeams I8 and I8a.

Referring now to Figure 2 of the drawing there is shown mounted at oneend of the beam I8, abearing ZUR, the peculiar structure of which ishereinafter referred to as an open-throated/bearing or socket. l

The bearing 20B. may be considered as substan- The bearing 2DR ismounted at the right end of the beam I8 with the legs of the U portionextending in avertical direction. An inner leg of the bearing,designatedas 2|R, extends in a vertical direction to a point above theend of the outer leg 22R. The inner surface 23R of the bearing ismachined so as to form a smooth arcuate surfacefor a purposehereinafter` set forth.

An aperture 24R is providedv in the longer leg 2|R of the bearingNR.,and a hookmember or latch 25R is mounted within this aperture so thatthe hollow portion of the leg ZIR embraces the hook member. 'Ihe hook25R is pivotally mounted to swing about a shaft 2BR. 'I'he shaft 26B. ispositioned below the bearing 2BR and the ends of the shaft are-engagedin lugs formed from an integral part of the bearing structure.

The hook 25R is formed with a relatively long, substantially straight,portion 2BR with the lower end slightly curved and a shorter tip portion21R extending substantially at a right angle from the straight portion28R. The hook 25R is` pivotally mounted on the shaft 26B. with the tipportion 21R. extending in the direction of the bearing leg"22R. Theunder surface of the tip 21R is arcuate shaped, so that thisv surfacemay engage the curved surface of the shaft 43R.

The shape of the hook or latch 25, in general, is such that when thehook is in a position, shown in Figure 3, the shaft 43 will be locked inthe leg portions of the bearing. The position of the shaft 26 and thetip portion 21 ofthe hook 25 is arched so that any tendency of the shaft43 to moveupwardly will not cause the hook 25 to be rotated about theshaft 28. v A bearing of the above described type and of similarconstruction, is positioned at the opposite end -of the beam I8, but itis mounted in a reversed relation, that is to say, the bearing 2DR, atthe right side of'the frame, is mounted with the hook-embracing legs 2IR on the inner side of the wagon, while the bearing 2|L at the leftside .of the Wagon, is mounted in 4reversed relation with 1U itslongeror hook embracing leg 2 IL also on the inner side of the wagon.

The beam. I 8a, located near the rear end of the frame,'is provided witha similar pair, of open-l Cil throated Abearings and these bearings areassoci-15 ture are in alignment, by reason of the fact that .the beamsI8 and |8'a are of equal length, and becauseeach beam extends beyond theside of the frame an equal distance.

There isshown at 30, generally, a bodybox or g5 hopper of rectangularshape. f The body or hopper 3D is shown in a tilted position in Figure 1in order that the supporting frame and tilting mechanism may be properlyillustrated. The body 30 is, of course, normally supported in ahorizontal posi- 30 tion so that bulk material or articles may becarried therein.

The lowermost portion 3| of the body is rectangular in shape, and thedimensions thereof are substantially the same as a rectangle having 35'the fouropen-'throated bearings or sockets 2DR and 20L as corners. Thesides 32 of the body 30 are flared and slope upwardly and outwardly fromthe rectangular bottom portion 3|. The hopper A3|! is constructed ofheavy sheet material and 40 the .sides are cut angularly at the fourcorners and joined to each other by means of plates or angle irons 33.The upper edge of the hopper, on all four sides, is turned over `anddownward, as shown at 34, to form a flange which functions as areinforcing means. 'Ihe body 30, including the sides 32, isreinforced bymeans of longitudinally and transversely extendingr beams 35 and 36 inaccordance with the usual practice'.

edin the center of the framei. The lower and larger end 39 of the'jackispivotally mounted in trunnion bearings in a manner such that the upperend 40 of the jack may swing to either side b of the frame IIL f T heupper end of the hydraulic jack is attached to the central under-portion3| of the body, by means of a universal joint structure 4I which in'turnis,attached to the reinforcing beams 36. C3

The body 30 is provided on its under side with a plurality ofdownwardly-extending plates- 42 of substantially triangular shape.1' Twoof these plates project downwardly in a parallel relation from each ofthefour corners of the body near 65 the point where the bottom 3| andthe sides 32 meet. Shaft-like members orA bearing pins 43 connect eachpair of parallel plates near the lowermost parts thereof and the shafts43 are heldin engaged relation therewith by means of 70 -a plurality ofcollars 44 onthe outer ends thereof. The collars are pinned by means ofpins 45.

The shaft-like members or bearing pins 4 3 are so positioned that whenthe hopper 30 is in a horizontal position, the bearing pinswill rest in75 the bearings or sockets 2DR and 20L and the body 30 will thus besupported in a load carrying position. The diameter of the shaft-likemembers 43 is such that they engage the arcuate surfaces 23R and 23L ofthe respective bearings, in a relation that will permit the shafts toturn therein.

The hook members 2BR and 25L, associated with the bearings at each endof the beam I8, are connected by a rod 46. The rod 46 is pivotallysecured to the hook B. at a point 4IR, and the opposite end of the rod46 is in a like manner secured to the hook 25L by a pivot 4'IL. Asimilar connecting rod 46 is associated with the hooks in the bearingsmounted on the beam I8a. The connecting rods 46 are of such length thatwhen the hooks 25L are swung to the left, as shown in Figure 2, the openthroats of the bearings 20L will be substantially closed to hold theshafts 43L therein, while the hooks 25R, at the opposite side of thewagon or the opposite end of the beams, will be in a retracted positionwhereby the shafts 43B. may escape from the legs of the bearing 2DR.

A shaft 48 extends through a suitable opening of the connecting rods 46at points adjacent the beams I8 and I8a and the hook members 2ER and 25Lmay therefore be actuated by movement of the lever 49. It will beapparent that when the lever 49 is moved to a position indicated inFigure 1, the hooks 25L are moved towards the legs 22L of the bearingsat the left side of the wagon and the shafts 43L are then locked inthese bearings. When the lever 49 is moved to an opposite extremeposition the hooks 25L will be retracted and the hooks 25B. will engagethe shafts 43R and thus lock these shafts in their respective bearings.

'I'he wagon body, when in a normal or loading position, is supported bythe shafts 43L and 43B resting in the open-throated bearings 2DR and20L. The direction in which the body 30 is to be tilted, is establishedby the position of the lever 49. For instance, if the lever 49 is in theposition as shown in Figure 2, the shafts 43L will be pivotally securedin the bearings 20L and, by applying suicient fluid pressure to thehydraulic jack 38, the center portion of the body will initially bemoved upwardly. The left side of the body, however, will not be raisedsince the hook members 25L are then in a position to lock the shafts 43Lin the open-throated bearing 20L. Further extension of the hydraulicjack will cause the body to swing upward and to the left side of theframe, because the shafts 43L are pivotally retained in the bearings20L, and thus any material carried by the body is dischargedto the leftside of the body.

The wagon body may be tilted to the right side of the frame, from afloadcarrying position, by swinging the lever 49 into an opposite positionfrom that above indicated, and thus locking the shafts 43Rin thebearings 20B. The same movement of the lever 49 simultaneously releasesthe 5 shafts 43L from their locked position in the bearings 20L. Anupward extending movement of the hydraulic jack 38 will cause the shafts43B, to be rotated in the bearings 2DR and the body will then swingupward and to the right and thus the 10 material with which the body maybe loaded will be discharged to the right side of the vehicle.

A modified form of hook and bearing structures is shown in Figure 3. Thelegs 2| and 22 of the U-shaped bearing, in this embodiment of the 15invention, are of substantially equal length. An opening 29 is providedin the leg 22 at a point above the uppermost surface of the shaft 43.The tip portion 21, of the hook, has a greater length in thismodification and the end thereof 20 is adapted to pass through theopening 29. The tip portion 21 will be reinforced by the engagement ofthe end thereof with the upper wall of the opening 29 and thus preventthe tip porti'on from becoming distorted. 2;,

Although I have described certain 'preferred embodiments of myinvention, it is apparent that modifications may be made by thoseskilled in the art. Such modications may be made without departing fromthe spirit and scope of my inven- 30 tion as set forth in the appendedclaims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A dump wagon comprising an elongated frame having side members andend portions, a pair of U-shaped bearings carried by said frame, one ofsaid bearings being positioned at each side of said elongated frame, abody, a pair of shaftlike members carried by said body, one of saidshaft-like members being adapted to be received in each of said bearingsand thereby support said body, a pair of pivotally mounted hooks, one ofsaid hooks being associated with each of said bearings in a reversedrelation therewith, said hooks being adapted to be pivotally moved to aposition to close the respective leg portions of 5 said bearings, a rodconnecting said hooks, a lever associated with said connecting rodadapted upon operation thereof to move one of said hooks to a positionto retain one of said shaft-like members in its respective bearing andthe other of said hooks being simultaneously moved to a retractedposition thus permitting the other of said shaft-like members to escapefrom its respective bearing.

- thereof within saidaperture whereby said shaft is locked in saidbearing. v.

y `WALDO E. RDDLER. u

